Hidradenitis Joint Pain: What to Log for Your Dermatologist

Updated 29 Oct 2026

Hidradenitis suppurativa is mostly thought of as a skin condition: lumps, drainage, dressings, and scars. Joint pain can sit outside that picture, so it is easy to put down to a long sit, a bad night, or getting older, and never mention.

This guide explains what to log about joint pain with HS: which joints and how long stiffness lasts, a short evening score, how to set joint days beside skin flares and sleep, and how to raise it with your dermatologist.

Why joint pain belongs in an HS log

The AAD notes that people with hidradenitis suppurativa may develop joint pain, that arthritis is often the cause, and that studies have found HS increases the risk of developing some types of arthritis (AAD). The same page notes that researchers continue to study this connection, and that both cause inflammation.

Its self-care guidance is direct: tell your dermatologist if you have joint pain (AAD). A visit about HS tends to focus on the skin, so joint pain can get mentioned at the door, or not at all. A dated log gives it a place on the agenda.

Joint pain also changes slowly. An ache that comes and goes over months is hard to describe from memory, but a few weeks of short entries show where it is, how often it happens, and whether it is getting worse.

In Hidradenitis Journey, the Daily check-in keeps joint notes in the same guided pass as skin, pain, and sleep.

Which joints and what kind of pain to note

Write which joints hurt and on which side, such as the left knee, both wrists, or the lower back. If the pain moves between joints over the week, note that too, because a pattern across several joints is different from one sore knee.

Add a few words on the kind of pain: aching, sharp, or throbbing, and whether it is worse with movement or at rest. Note any joint that looks swollen, feels warm, or is hard to bend fully.

Keep joint pain separate from pain at a flare site. A painful lump in the groin can make walking hard without any joint being involved. Writing the two apart helps your dermatologist tell them apart.

If a scar limits movement, note that separately as well, since that is a different question for your dermatologist.

In Hidradenitis Journey, the Daily Journal holds these short descriptions, including on days when typing is hard.

How to log morning stiffness

The AAD notes that joint pain and morning stiffness are common with arthritis (AAD). Stiffness is easy to log because it has a clear start and end.

Each morning, note roughly how long it takes after you get up before your joints feel loose: a few minutes, under half an hour, or longer. Write which joints were stiff. Keep the same wording each day, so the entries stay comparable.

Also note stiffness after rest during the day, such as after a long sit or a drive. If stiffness changes after a new medicine, a flare, or a bad night, those dates matter, so write them in the same entry.

Mornings without stiffness are worth a line too, because they show whether the pattern is steady or easing.

In Hidradenitis Journey, the Daily check-in can hold a morning stiffness note beside the rest of the day's symptoms.

What to score each evening

Each evening, rate joint pain on a 0 to 10 scale and note whether any joint was swollen. Add one line on what the pain stopped you doing, such as climbing stairs, gripping, or carrying a bag. Function can be more useful to a clinician than the number alone.

Add a sleep line as well. The AAD notes that pain and itch can affect your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep, and that continual sleep loss can lead to feeling fatigued every day (AAD). Joint pain at night belongs in the same record.

On days with no joint pain, still write a zero. Quiet days make it easier to see which days are different, and they show whether things improve after a change in treatment.

In Hidradenitis Journey, My Assessments adds structured check-ins across weeks, and the weekly view shows the trend.

How to set joint days beside skin flares

Once a week, look back over seven days. Mark the worst joint days, then check what came before: a skin flare, a new lump, a long sit, a poor night, or a change in medicine. One week proves little, but a few weeks can show whether joint pain follows the skin or runs on its own.

The AAD notes that HS breakouts often clear for a while, and that new breakouts may develop later in the same area (AAD). Logging joints through quiet skin weeks as well as flare weeks shows whether the two move together. If joint pain stays the same while the skin settles, that is useful to know as well.

For flare weeks themselves, see what to note on hidradenitis drainage days.

In Hidradenitis Journey, the Flare Tracker marks flare days, and My Meds keeps start dates and dose changes beside the joint scores.

How to raise joint pain with your dermatologist

Prepare one page with joint pain near the top, not at the end. List which joints are involved, how long it has been happening, average weekly pain scores, typical morning stiffness, any swelling, and whether it follows skin flares. Add what it stops you doing.

Ask your dermatologist what they would like to check and whether another specialist should look at the joints. Write down the answer and any follow-up date before you leave. If a test or a referral is arranged, add its date to the log, so later joint scores line up with it.

For a short appointment, see what to bring to a 15-minute hidradenitis visit, and if you are still waiting for a referral, what to track while waiting for the hidradenitis specialist.

In Hidradenitis Journey, the Doctor Report has two views: the Appointment Planning Report helps you prepare what to ask, and Generate Report, opened from a saved doctor, builds a dated summary for that doctor. My Care Team keeps notes from each visit.

How Hidradenitis Journey can help

A notebook can hold a pain score. The harder part is keeping joints, skin flares, sleep, and medicines in one record, so a link is visible when you sit down with your dermatologist.

Hidradenitis Journey is a personal HS tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. It records flares, pain, sleep, medicines, and habits in one dated history, and its insights show which treatments and habits come before calmer or harder weeks. Learn explains the condition in plain words, and the AI companions, such as Clara, answer questions when a new symptom or result is hard to read. Below is what you can use and how each part helps:

• Daily check-in — A short guided pass across symptoms, mood, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, and external factors, including nodule pain, drainage, and skin-fold flares, so links you would not remember on your own show up side by side.
• Daily Journal — Freer notes, including voice when typing hurts, such as dressing counts, photo notes, and visit debriefs, that add detail a score alone cannot show.
• Flare Tracker — Mark a day clearly worse than your usual, with onset, sites, and intensity, so you can tell a one-off spike from a repeating pattern.
• My Meds — Medicine names and timing, so you can line up a start date or dose change with lump counts, pain, and sleep.
• My Labs — Result dates for swabs, blood work, imaging, and other tests, compared with how you felt in the weeks before and after.
• Weekly Goals — Set one small aim, such as a daily wash routine or looser clothing on long days, and see whether it held and whether flares changed.
• Learn — Short education topics on HS themes such as flares, sleep, pacing, and visit preparation.
• AI companions — Clara and specialist companions already see your logged history, which helps with visit wording or questions after a new diagnosis.
• My Care Team — A profile for each clinician, plus upcoming appointments and notes for each visit, used before, during, and after appointments.
• Doctor Report — Two views: the Appointment Planning Report helps you prepare what to ask, and Generate Report, opened from a saved doctor, builds a dated summary of your recent progress for that doctor.
• My Assessments — Structured check-ins that add context about you across weeks.
• Food Tracker — Meal and drink lines when food is something you and your clinician are watching alongside flares.
• Period Tracker — Cycle dates, so you can see whether new lumps cluster at a certain point in the cycle.
• Weight Tracker — Weight entries when weight is part of what you and your clinician are watching.

Everything you log builds one history. Guided forms include the key questions, and you can add custom symptoms when you need your own labels. Hidradenitis Journey is free to download.

Sources

• American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) — Hidradenitis suppurativa: Signs and symptoms
• American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) — Hidradenitis suppurativa: Self-care
• NHS — Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS)

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